Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Elected International Boxing President, Will Guide Sport Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he stated. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.
“I am committed to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in every region of the world.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about gender eligibility, it said it needed a new partner by 2028.
In February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For that event, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a move that the IOC is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.